February 2022 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. As part of our continued reflection on thirty years of Ordained Servant, I thought it would be enjoyable for those who like the aesthetics of periodical covers to have a brief look at the evolution of creating the monthly online covers and some of my favorite digital covers since I became editor in 2006. The print edition cover photos have been exclusively of New England churches and for copyright reasons, as well as my enjoyment of photography as an art, taken by me. I begin with a reflection on the biblical importance of beauty.

Bruce Hollister tackles the critical issue of prayer in the lives of pastors and elders in his article “The Priority of Prayer for the Pastor.” The American CEO model for leadership has dominated evangelical churches for many decades, ever since the emergence of the church growth philosophy of ministry in the 1960s. When activism, programs, and above all, success, take center stage, prayer tends to become an afterthought. Pastor Hollister gives church officers a timely warning, noting how ministers in particular neglect one of the two (preaching and prayer) fundamental apostolic activities.

Danny Olinger brings us Chapter 8, “Glory in Our Midst: A Biblical Theological Reading of Zechariah’s Night Visions,” in The Writings of Meredith G. Kline on the Book of Revelation. This invaluable work culls all the late Meredith G. Kline’s reflections on the book of Revelations from his many works.

Alan Strange gives us Chapter 24 in his Commentary on the Form of Government of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Charles Wingard reviews a fine new anthology on the relationship of theology to preaching: Theology Is for Preaching: Biblical Foundations, Method, & Practice edited by Chase R. Kuhn and Paul Grimmond. It is a comprehensive reminder that the academy serves the church, not vice versa.

I review an impressive book of poems, Reflections on Revelation in the Time of Covid: Finding Hope When Life Is Hard by Susan E. Erikson. It is written in free verse by a veteran poet in our own theological tradition. I reflect on the difference between free and blank verse, locating the two among the many forms of poetry.

Our poem this month, “Against Sin,” was composed by James Ryan Lee, a former English instructor, now seminary student under care in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, preparing for pastoral ministry. His poems have appeared in Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature and the Environment, Christianity and Literature, The Cresset, The Minnesota Review, and Juked.

The cover picture was taken recently on Cape Cod on a peninsula on the Bass River where snowy owls often congregate for the winter. Such amazing creatures often remind me of the grandeur of God, encouraging me to pray to such a wonderful being.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “ORDAINED SERVANT”

http://opc.org/OS/pdf/Subject_Index.pdf

• “Giving Thanks—The Neglected Prayer” (Jeffrey B. Wilson) 21 (2012): 27–31.
• “How to Pray at Prayer Meetings: Some Practical Suggestions” (Ryan M. McGraw) 23 (2014): 55-59.
• “Prayer Cloths: Superstitious or Spiritual?” (Patrick Ramsey) 10:4 (Oct. 2001): 85–86.
• “The Prayer of Jabez: A Berean Look.” (John V. Fesko) 16 (2007): 147–49.
• “The Rhythms of the Christian Life in Bible Reading, Prayer, and Poetry” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 22 (2013):109–11.

Ordained Servant exists to help encourage, inform, and equip church officers for faithful, effective, and God-glorifying ministry in the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its primary audience is ministers, elders, and deacons of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as interested officers from other Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Through high-quality editorials, articles, and book reviews, we will endeavor to stimulate clear thinking and the consistent practice of historic, confessional Presbyterianism.